Method For Monitoring Exercise, And Apparatus And System Thereof

ABSTRACT

An exercise monitoring device having sensors for monitoring and measuring the physiological and physical parameters of a person during an exercise. The monitored and measured parameters are stored and used in real-time comparison with the same person&#39;s performance another time. The monitored and measured parameters of another person in the same exercise may also be used. Real-time monitoring and measuring of the parameters of several people provides the possibility to have virtual competition between people in different locations.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices for monitoring physicalexercise.

BACKGROUND

A sportsman wishing to improve his sports performance would have a goalof beating his past performance. To do so require measurement devicesand physical markers, such as a running track indicative of the rundistance, a stop watch to measure time.

However, it is difficult for any sportsman to monitor his own progresswhile he is concentrating on the exercise. Only when he has finishedwith the exercise could he check the time, or other measurementparameters, to review his performance; the sportsman does not have areal time indication of his present performance. Therefore, thesportsman is unable to push himself at specific crucial moments duringthe exercise to exceed his past performance, unless he had specifichelp. For example, an assistant could be placed at specific locationsalong a running track to shout out to the sportsman his time. In thisway, the sportsman can then decide if he needs to push himself harderbased on the shouted information.

Furthermore, unless the sportsman shares the same running track andtiming facilities with other sportsmen at the same time, it isimpossible for the sportsman to compete with the other sportsmen.

It is desirable to provide a way to allow a sportsman to activelycompare his performance during an exercise, with his past performance atthe same exercise. Furthermore, it is also desirable to provide a way toallow two or more persons to exercise and compete with less restraintsof travel.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In a first aspect the invention discloses a method of monitoring theexercise of a user, comprising the step of: using at least one sensor torecord at least one performance parameter of the user during hisexercise; comparing the record of the performance parameter againstanother record of the performance parameter; and indicating to the userthe how the performance parameter of the user compares to the otherrecord of the same performance parameter.

Optionally, the other record of the same performance parameter is of anearlier exercise of the same user. Alternatively, the other record ofthe performance parameter is of an earlier exercise of the other person.Preferably, the step of comparing the record of the performanceparameter against another record of the performance parameter is made asthe user is performing the exercise at the same time as another person.

Preferably, the indication of the comparison of the parameters to theuser is provided by voice prompt, such as one which is audible by anearphone worn by the user.

In a second aspect the invention discloses an exercise monitoring devicesystem for remote competition, comprising a host server; a plurality ofclient exercise monitoring devices in wireless communication with thehost server; each client exercise monitoring device having at least onesensor for monitoring at least one performance parameter of a respectiveuser during an exercise; each client exercise monitoring device iscapable of sending the performance parameter of the respective user tothe host server; the host server is adapted to compare the performanceparameter sent from the plurality of client exercise monitoring devices;and the host server is adapted to communicate to each client exercisemonitoring device how the performance parameter of each user compares tothe performance parameter of another user; wherein the comparativeperformance of the users in the exercise is indicated to each user.

In a third aspect the invention discloses an exercise monitoring devicecomprising at least one sensor for monitoring at least one performanceparameter of a user during an exercise, a controller for comparing theperformance parameter of the user to another performance parameter; andan output device for indicating to the user the extent to which theperformance parameter of the user differs from the other performanceparameter.

Optionally, the other performance parameter is a performance parameterof the user during an earlier exercise. Alternatively, the otherperformance parameter is the performance parameter of another person.

The performance parameter is one of the following non-exhaustive listof: time, distance, location, track, speed, acceleration, inclination,altitude, temperature, humidity, ultraviolet index, heart beat rate,breath, calorie, SpO2 and any other parameter which is useable tomeasure, monitor or analyse the physical condition of the user and hisperformance in an exercise.

The at least one sensor includes any combination of the followingnon-exhaustive list: timer, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer,temperature sensor, infrared sensor, ultraviolet sensor, CMOS sensor,piezo-electric, fingerprint sensors, and any other sensor which isuseable to measure, monitor or analyse the physical condition of theuser and his performance in an exercise.

The exercise of the user comprises, among other possibilities, running,walking, rowing, biking, rope skipping, number of times of weightlifting, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-up, so and on

Accordingly, the embodiment provides the possibility that a usermonitors, records and analyses the user's different sessions of the sameexercise over a period of time, such as over months or years, to monitorand chart his improvement according to various parameters, i.e. not justspeed or endurance, but also breathing rate, heart beat rate, and so on.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be convenient to further describe the present invention withrespect to the accompanying drawings that illustrate possiblearrangements of the invention, in which like integers refer to likeparts. Other arrangements of the invention are possible, andconsequently the particularity of the accompanying drawings is not to beunderstood as superseding the generality of the preceding description ofthe invention.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the internal architecture of theembodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 shows examples of relational-tables inside the database of theembodiment of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b illustrate how different physical parameters monitoredby the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be charted for analysis;

FIG. 5 illustrates how the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be used in one way;

FIG. 6 illustrates how the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be used to provideresults viewable on a computer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an exercise monitoring device 100 which is an embodiment ofthe invention. The exercise monitoring device 100 contains a sensor bank125, which is a collection of devices and sensors that allow the presentexercise of a user to be compared to past exercise ‘records’, orExercise Profiles.

The exercise monitoring device 100 comprises a housing 102, a userinterface including a screen 104 and multiple buttons 106.

The exercise monitoring device 100 is small enough to be portable andworn by a user while he is performing an exercise. Typically, theexercise monitoring device 100 may be strapped to the user's wrist inthe way watches are worn, or worn on his arms or waist, or around hisneck.

To be able to monitor the exercise of the user, the exercise monitoringdevice 100 contains devices for identifying the user, time andenvironment parameters, and sensors for monitoring the user'sphysiological parameters. Physiology refers to the physical and chemicalprocesses of living organisms and their parts.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing some of the devices and sensorsinside the exercise monitoring device 100, including a processor 120, astorage media 122, a wireless communication interface 124, a userinterface 104 and a biometric identification module (not illustrated).

The storage media 122 comprises a random access memory (RAM) 121 andflash type memory 123, etc. A database for recording the performance ofthe user and his identity is stored in the storage media 122.

The wireless communication interface 124 provides data transfer withremote electronic equipment, such as a server 503 (see FIG. 5).

The user interface 104 is connected to input and output ports 126 in theexercise monitoring device 100. For input, there is a keypad, a styluspad, touch screen, keyboard or keypad (not illustrated) etc.Furthermore, there is a microphone (not shown) for voice recording.

Therefore, the exercise monitoring device 100 is capable of receivinginput of personal information of the user, such as the user's identity(ID), name, address, personal information and static physiologicalparameters including height, weight, age, sex etc.

The biometric identification module is a voice recognition module. Thus,after the user has entered his identity into the exercise monitoringdevice 100 at the first time he used the exercise monitoring device 100,the user can be subsequently identified by biometric voice recognitionthrough the microphone. The biometric voice recognition allows theexercise monitoring device 100 to be used in turn by a plurality ofidentifiable users easily.

Furthermore, there are various output devices such as a screen fordisplay, earphone socket 108 for an earphone or a speaker (notillustrated).

Other input and output components include a serial port or USB port (notillustrated) for data output to a computer.

The sensor bank 125 include one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes,heart beat rate monitors, CMOS sensors and piezoelectric sensors, bloodoxygen sensors, breathe sensors and so on. Furthermore, the sensor bank125 includes devices for monitoring time, environmental parameters,location of the user and so on, such as temperature sensors, humiditysensors, ultraviolet sensors, barometers, CMOS cameras, infrared sensorsand a location sensor. Preferably, the location sensor is a globalposition system (GPS) locator.

The sensor bank 125 is therefore capable of monitoring the user'sexercise and recording the time spent, the distance covered, the speedand acceleration of the user, the number of repetitions in the exercise,the user's heart beat rate and breathing rate. Furthermore, the sensorbank 125 is capable of detecting geographical location and altitude,ambient temperature, humidity, ultraviolet index and so on.Advantageously, such environmental data is able to provide an indicationif the weather has any effect on the exercise performance of the user.

The CMOS camera is useable to sense the monitor changes in pattern orcolour of the user's body parts, such as his tongue, eye, face, the skinetc. The piezoelectric sensor can be used to sense vibration or stressor strain on the muscle. Such devices or sensors help to monitor theuser's physiological parameters.

How each sensor or device in the sensor bank 125 works is known to theskilled man and needs no detailed elaboration here. Just for example,the accelerometer is useable to sense the steps of the user as he walksor runs, and to count the steps; a finely-tune accelerometer is capableof determining if the user has taken slow steps in a walk or quick stepsin a run. U.S. application Ser. No. 12/342,678 of 12 Dec. 2008 explainshow an accelerometer is able to monitor acceleration, calculate walkingor running speed, and also count the steps of the user, and is entirelyincorporated herein by reference.

Also, how is each physiological sensor 125 placed in contact with theuser to monitor his physiological parameters is known to the skilledman, which also needs no detailed elaboration here.

The database in the storage media 122 contains records from the sensorbank 125 in past exercises. FIG. 3 shows an example of three relationaltables in the database, Table 1(a), Table 1(b) and Table 1(c), allcontaining information pertaining to past exercises.

Table 1(a) contains the personal information of all the users who haveused the exercise monitoring device 100. These are shown as columnsName, Identity (Or Serial Number), Personal Information, Exercise Leveland Exercise Profile. Although not illustrated in detail, the column“Personal Info” comprises information such as gender, age, weight,height, etc.

Table 1(b) contains information on each exercise perform by the usersrecorded in Table 1(a), such as the date and venues of the exercise, andthe profile of the exercise. In this case, Table 1(b) containsinformation of a running exercise.

Table 1(c) contains the actual ‘profile data’ of each exercise and, byway of example, the data columns shows time, distance, location, track,speed, acceleration, terrain's inclination, altitude, temperature,humidity, ultraviolet index, heart beat rate, breath, SpO2 (Saturationof Peripheral Oxygen), and calorie burnt. To provide the data as shownin Table 1(c), the sensors in the sensor bank 125 monitor variousphysical and physiological parameters of the user during the user'sexercise. For example, in a running exercise, the heartbeat rate, stepsand the quickness of the steps of the user are monitored by theaccelerometer and counted.

Typically, the sensors 125 provide the data in Table 1(c) by samplingthe user's physiological parameters at intervals of one second. That is,the columns are filled with a new row of data every second.

The exercise monitoring device 100 contains software which allows theprocessor 120 to make comparisons between the present performance of theuser and a record of the user's past performance. During the presentexercise, the sensor bank 125 measures the user's physiologicalparameters, and the surround physical parameters in real-time, andcompares them with his recorded profile or profiles. For example, if theuser is performing a run and at moments where the user is slowercompared to the same moments in the record, the exercise monitoringdevice 100 prompts the user to run faster, to encourage him to improvehis performance. This provides the possibility that the exercisemonitoring device issue alerts and messages in real time about thepresent performance in relation to the record.

Optionally, the exercise monitoring device 100 also helps the user toslow down if the user prefers to sustain only a comfortable, slightlyless strenuous exercise routine than the record. It is possible toconfigure the exercise monitoring device 100 to monitor whether the usershould outperform or under-perform the user's past performances.

FIG. 5 shows that the exercise monitoring device may be worn on the armof the user, or his waist or around his neck. A suitable position willfacilitate the sensors such as the accelerometer to sense the up anddown movements of the arm of the user when the user is running. The earphone extends from the exercise monitoring device to the ear of theuser, so that the user is able to receive regular prompt messages,updating him on his progress of his exercise. Any parameter monitored bythe exercise monitoring device may be announced to the user while theuser is till at the exercise, such as distance covered, heart beat rate,blood pressure, calorie count, and can be used by the user to decidewhether he has achieved his goal of the exercise. Thus, the embodimentprovides an advantage that review of the user's performance is in realtime. This relieves the need of another person to monitor the user'sperformance.

In a variation of the embodiment, the embodiment provides thepossibility of comparing the performance of the user with theperformance of other people, instead of with a record of the user's ownpast performance. In this case, the user loads a single or a pluralityof the Exercise Profiles of other people to compare with the user'spresent performance in real time. That means, during the presentexercise, the sensor bank 125 measures the user's physiologicalparameters and the physical parameters in real-time, and compares themwith the parameters in the Exercise Profiles, i.e. records, of the otherpeople.

There are many ways to obtain another person's record against which tocompare the performance of the present user. Firstly, the exercisemonitoring device 100 may wirelessly communicate with a server 503containing a database of other people's records, to download a selectedperson's record into the exercise monitoring device 100 (preferably, theuser's own record in the exercise monitoring device 100 is also uploadedinto the server 503 for other people to download). Alternatively, theexercise monitoring device 100 has Bluetooth, IrDa or other wirelesscommunication protocol which allows the exercise monitoring device 100to communicate directly with the exercise monitoring device 100 ofanother person, to allow record sharing. Alternatively, the record canbe downloaded into a computer, floppy disk or portable memory, to betransferred between computers which can then further transfer the recordinto another exercise monitoring device 100. The means for data transferinto a computer include serial or USB communication, or othercommunication protocol as the skilled man would know.

Preferably, if the parameters in another person's record are toodifficult for the user, the exercise monitoring device 100 automaticallyadjusts the parameters of the other person's record by a factor to makeit easier, such as 10%. The skilled man understands that, depending onthe parameter, this may means an adjustment to the greater or lesservalue. For example, the parameter of speed is adjusted lower to make thespeed easier to beat. On the other hand, the parameter of time taken inthe other person's record may be adjusted longer to also make it easierto beat. The exercise monitoring device 100 determines that an record istoo difficult if the difference between one or more selected parameterin the latest record of the user's performance and the same parametersin the selected other person's record is greater than a certainthreshold. On the other hand, if the difference is too small, theexercise monitoring device 100 determines that a record is too easy andthe user is capable of beating the record of the other person. In thiscase, the exercise monitoring device 100 amends the parameters in therecord of the other person by a factor to make the competition moredifficult, such by a 5% amendment. This will make the challenge tomeasure up to the other person's record stiffer. In a variation of thisembodiment, the user specifies to the exercise monitoring device 100 acertain amount or percentage of improvement over the user's pastrecords. For example, he could specify an improved speed by 10%.

Preferably, the exercise monitoring device 100 also allows comparisonwith the performance of famous sportsmen. If the user is a sprinter, hemay want to improve himself or learn from a famous sprinter such asUsain Bolt or Xiang Liu. He then can download Bolt's profiles and thensprint with the exercise monitoring device 100 providing prompts as tohow the user's performance at any stage of his sprint compares to Bolt'srecord.

In a variation of the embodiment, the exercise monitoring device 100automatically selects records for comparison. For example, the userinputs into the exercise monitoring device 100 an indication ofimproving his running speed by 5%. Based on the past record of theuser's exercises, the exercise monitoring device 100 searches within theexercise monitoring device's 100 memory or from a remote server 503 atleast one suitable record of another person against which the user'spresent exercise is to be monitored, where the suitable record ofanother person having a running speed of around 5% faster than theuser's past record.

In a further variation of the embodiment, the exercise monitoring device100 is in wireless communication with a remote database which recordsand compares the performance parameters of several users in real time.This makes it possible to hold “virtual competition” among multiplecompetitors. Even if the competitors are at different locations aroundthe world, the exercise monitoring devices 100 is able to inform allcompetitors to begin the exercise at the same time, to measure andupload the exercise status of each competitor into the server forcomparison. This allows several exercise monitoring devices 100 tomonitor the physiological and physical parameters of several respectivecompetitors at the same time via remote communication, and makingcomparison between the parameters in the database. The parameters caninclude the position of every competitor, the distance traveled and timepassed, etc. Based on the information in the database, each exercisemonitoring device 100 can suggest suitable effort improvement to therespective competitor in real time. The may include, for example,telling the competitor his current position in the virtual competitionand suggesting a strategy to beat the other competitors, such as

-   -   “You are No. 4 of 6. You can follow them now.”    -   “You are lagged behind, must be faster in next minute.”    -   “It is time for you to exceed. Rush!”    -   “Run faster in next half minute!”    -   “Maybe slow down a bit for a minute to catch your breathe.”

A virtual competition is illustrated in FIG. 5, showing one runner 501in the USA running during the day and another runner 502 running at thesame time, such as at night in China. The server 503 with which theexercise monitoring devices 100 on each of the runner 501, 502communicate compares the performances, and issues prompts or updates toeach runner 501, 502. Thus, a virtual but literal competition is held atthe same time but in different locations. With real-time exercisesensing and analysis functions, the exercise monitoring device 100 isable to record a users' 501, 502 real-time records and transmit therecords to a server 503 (not illustrated). The server 503 processes allthe users' 501, 502 information, and compute some statistics. Forinstance, the real-time positions of all users 501, 502 are known by theGPS. Thus, the server 503 informs each user 501, 502 of the user'scurrent position and how far he is from the leading the other user, viathe voice prompting of the exercise monitoring device 100. Furthermore,one user may be informed of processed statistics during a competition ofmany players, such as who is the leading person in the completion, andthe user's position among of all male athletes at specific age groups,or body mass groups, and so on. The skilled man knows that cloudcomputing or distributed computing are all possible options forrealizing such an embodiment and there is no need for detailedelaboration.

The skilled man understands that it is not necessary that all aforesaidphysiological parameters have to be monitored for a competition. Forexample, the heart beat rate need not be monitored during a competition.

After the competition, the records of each competitor may be uploadedinto a computer and displayed as an animation. This will allow friendsof the competitors to appreciate their performance on a display screen,as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The exercise monitoring device 100 also provides health and fitnessmonitoring. The values in any two columns of data in Table 1(c) may becharted against each other to trend the relationship between the twotypes of values. FIGS. 4 a and FIG. 4 b shows how acceleration may beplotted against time 401, and heart-rate against distance 402.Mathematical or statistical manipulation for these matters is known andneed no detailed explanation here.

In one use, the exercise monitoring device 100 is able to monitor theuser's heart beat rate and propose whether the user could push himselfharder. For example, if the user has indicated to the exercisemonitoring device 100 that he would run 5 km, and by the end of the 5 kmthe exercise monitoring device detects that the heart beat rate of theuser is at a rate which is considered safe, the exercise monitoringdevice 100 issues encouraging message to request the user to pushhimself harder to complete 5.5 km. On the other hand, if the heart beatrate is outside the safety zone at any point during the run, theexercise monitoring device 100 suggests at suitable moments that theuser runs only 4.5 km or less. Health prompts may also be provided, suchas “Your heart beat rate is too fast! Slow down!” “You have potential tobe faster in next 3 minutes!” Thus, the exercise monitoring device 100also provides both health and performance monitoring. The prompt istypically given in the form of audible messages through an ear phoneattached to the exercise monitoring device 100. However, other than anaudible prompt message by the earphones, the exercise monitoring devicecan also issue meaningful alarms that are not in textual or audioformats. For example, the exercise monitoring device can provide asteady beeping sound when the user is performing his exercise in pacewith the record his present performance is being compared to. When theefforts of the user are not as good as the record he is comparing hispresent performance to, the beeping increases to encourage the user toimprove his performance. When the efforts of the user are better therecord, the beeping may slow down or stop.

Preferably, the exercise monitoring device 100 allows the user toidentify the type of exercise he about to perform. For example, the usercan type ‘running’, ‘aerobics’, ‘triathlon’ and so on into the exercisemonitoring device 100 or select the type of exercise from a dropdownlist of exercises stored in the exercise monitoring device 100.Furthermore, the exercise monitoring device 100 also allows the user toinput or select information on the ‘level’ of exercise. The ‘levels’ ofexercise can be pre-determined in the factory, and differentiated suchas by speed or duration of exercise, and means varying levels ofexercise programs. For example, in running, there may be differentlevels of running relating to a run of 10 km, half marathon, fullmarathon and so on, or different levels of training profiles such asWeight Loss exercise, De-stress exercise etc. Furthermore, ‘levels’ canalso be determined by the different purposes involving differentparameters targets, such as target heart rate or exercise duration andso on.

Furthermore, the location of the exercise can also be selected from adropdown list. To do so, the name and features of each exercise locationthat contribute to sports difficulty are predetermined and stored intothe exercise monitoring device 100 for selection by the user. Forexample, the location is named descriptively as a “sport stadium runningtrack”, a “forest track” of a specific place, a “swimming lake” and soon. Subsequently, the physical attributes or features of the locationswhich affect the exercise, such as the inclination and distance of arunning track, the number of steps to be climbed along the runningtrack, the breath of the swimming lake and so on are recorded. Officialmaps, and the rangers or facility managers of such locations can beconsulted to establish this information. Each location recorded is givena difficulty level in advance, according to the location features.Specific details of how this can be done are known to the skilled manand need no elaboration here. The GPS locator in the exercise monitoringdevice 100 may automatically identify the location of the exercise andimpose the difficulty level base on the exercise which the user selectsto perform there.

The skilled ma understands that in addition to using “time” as theprimary key, as in the example here in Table 1(c), the database may alsouse multiple primary keys as time & acceleration, distance & heart-rate,or time & location & distance, etc. Some data which are not obtaineddirectly from the sensors can also be deduced from the sensor's output.For example, from the user's weight and distance covered in theexercise, the amount of calorie burnt in the exercise can be calculatedat any point of time during the run. This helps to provide real timeinformation to the user on how much calories has been burnt at any pointin time.

While there has been described in the foregoing description preferredembodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the technology concerned that many variations ormodifications in details of design, construction or operation may bemade without departing from the scope of the present invention asclaimed.

For example, while the described embodiment has many parts, including ascreen, a touch pad, a keypad, several sensor modules, the skilled manunderstands that any of these may be exempted from some embodimentswhile still achieving the desired invention as claimed.

Thus, although a plurality of physiological and physical parameters hasbeen described, a sole parameter can also be used to monitor the userperformance. Correspondingly, it is possible that only one sensor ordevice is be used.

Furthermore, the skilled man knows that various embodiments may beapplied to different forms of exercise such as chin-ups, swimming,walking, running, walking, rowing, biking, rope skipping, number oftimes of weight lifting, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups and so on.

Furthermore, other than voice recognition, other biometric sensors suchas fingerprint identification can be used.

Furthermore, the skilled man knows that other applications may beenvisaged even though they are not described in detail herein, such asmonitoring the performance of racing animals.

Therefore, the embodiment 100 includes a method of monitoring theexercise of a user, comprising the step of: using at least one sensor torecord at least one performance parameter (given as examples in relationto Table 1(c)) of the user during his exercise; comparing the record ofthe performance parameter against another record of the same performanceparameter; and indicating to the user the how the performance parameterof the user compares to the other record of the same performanceparameter.

Therefore, the embodiment 100 includes an exercise monitoring devicesystem for remote competition, comprising a host server; a plurality ofclient exercise monitoring devices in wireless communication with thehost server; each client exercise monitoring device having at least onesensor for monitoring at least one performance parameter of a respectiveuser during an exercise; each client exercise monitoring device iscapable of sending the performance parameter of the respective user tothe host server; the host server is adapted to compare the performanceparameter sent from the plurality of client exercise monitoring devices;and the host server is adapted to communicate to each client exercisemonitoring device how the performance parameter of each user compares tothe performance parameter of another user; wherein the comparativeperformance of the users in the exercise is indicated to each user.

Therefore, the embodiment includes an exercise monitoring device 100comprising at least one sensor for monitoring at least one performanceparameter of a user during an exercise, a controller for comparing theperformance parameter of the user to another performance parameter; andan output device for indicating to the user the extent to which theperformance parameter of the user differs from the other performanceparameter.

The skilled man knows that the performance parameter is one of thefollowing non-exhaustive list of: time, distance, location, track,speed, acceleration, inclination, altitude, temperature, humidity,ultraviolet index, heart beat rate, breath, calorie, SpO2 and any otherparameter which is useable to measure, monitor or analyses the physicalcondition of the user and his performance in an exercise.

1. A method of monitoring the exercise of a user, comprising the stepof: using at least one sensor to record at least one performanceparameter of the user during his exercise; comparing the record of theperformance parameter against another record of the same performanceparameter; and indicating to the user the how the performance parameterof the user compares to the other record of the same performanceparameter.
 2. A method of monitoring the exercise of a user, as claimedin claim 1, wherein the other record of the same performance parameteris of an earlier exercise of the same user.
 3. A method of monitoringthe exercise of a user, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the other recordof the same performance parameter is of an earlier exercise of anotherperson.
 4. A method of monitoring the exercise of a user, as claimed inclaim 3, wherein the comparison is made as the user is performing theexercise.
 5. A method of monitoring the exercise of a user, as claimedin claim 4, wherein the step of comparing the record of the performanceparameter against another record of the same performance parameter ismade when the user is performing the exercise at the same time as theother person.
 6. A method of monitoring the exercise of a user, asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the step of indicating to the user the howthe performance-parameter of the user compares to the other record ofthe same performance parameter comprises providing a voice prompt to theuser.
 7. A method of monitoring the exercise of a user, as claimed inclaim 6, wherein the voice prompt is via a earphone.
 8. An exercisemonitoring system for remote competition, comprising a host server; aplurality of client exercise monitoring devices in wirelesscommunication with the host server; each client exercise monitoringdevice having at least one sensor for monitoring at least oneperformance parameter of a respective user during an exercise; eachclient exercise monitoring device being capable of sending theperformance parameter of the respective user to the host server; thehost server being adapted to compare the performance parameter sent fromthe plurality of client exercise monitoring devices; and the host serverbeing adapted to communicate to each client exercise monitoring devicehow the performance parameter of each user compares to the performanceparameter of another user; wherein the comparative performance of theusers in the exercise is indicated to each user.
 9. A client exercisemonitoring device for the exercise monitoring system as claimed in claim8.
 10. An exercise monitoring device comprising at least one sensor formonitoring at least one performance parameter of a user during anexercise, and a controller for comparing the performance parameter ofthe user to another performance parameter; and and output device forindicating to the user the extent to which the performance parameter ofthe user differs from the other performance parameter.
 11. An exercisemonitoring device as claimed in claim 10 wherein the other performanceparameter is the performance parameter of the user during an earlierexercise.
 12. An exercise monitoring device as claimed in claim 10wherein the other performance parameter is of another person.